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Freedom of Association and Human Rights Organisations in Egypt

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Freedom of Association and Human Rights Organisations in Egypt ²\€³×[ ¥½¤n« »À•~½c°«[ -»À^¼y¼×[ »¨_„¬[ EURO-MEDITERRANEAN HUMAN RIGHTS NETWORK RESEAU EURO-MEDITERRANEEN DES DROITS DE L’HOMME Freedom of Association and Human Rights Organisations in Egypt Report published by the Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Network in cooperation with the International Federation of Human Rights Copenhagen, May 1999 Secretariat of the Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Network The Danish Centre for Human Rights Studiestraede 38 1455 Copenhagen K Denmark Phone: +45 33 30 88 88 Fax: +45 33 30 88 00 E-mail: [email protected] International Federation of Human Rights (FIDH) 17, passage de la Main d’Or 75011 Paris France Phone: +33 1 43 55 25 18 Fax: +33 1 43 55 18 80 E-mail: [email protected] ISSN: 1398-7313 Bibliographic information according to the H URIDOCS Standard Format: Title: Freedom of Association and Human Rights O rganisations in E gypt Personal authors: Schade-Poulsen, Marc; Rothpfeffer, Tomas & Manceron, Gilles Corporate authors: Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Network / FIDH Series: Publications of the Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Network Index terms: NGOs / Cooperation / Human rights Geographical terms: Mediterranean countries / Europe / North Africa / Middle East / Egypt Translation to English: Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Network The missions were sponsored by the Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Network and the report prepared with the support of the EUCommission. CONTENT Introduction 1 Conclusions and recommendations 2 Part 1: Law 153 of 1999 on private associations and institutions in Egypt 4 The adoption of Law 153 of 1999: a sequence of events 4 Law 153 of 1999: key points of concern 7 Arguments in favour of Law 153 of 1999 9 Arguments against Law 153 of 1999 11 Evaluation 1: the process of drafting the law 11 Evaluation 2: Law 153 of 1999 compared with Law 32 of 1964 12 Evaluation 3: the general attitude of the Egyptian authorities towards human rights work 14 Conclusion 16 Part 2: The Egyptian Organisation for Human Rights and freedom of association 18 Legal recognition of the EOHR: a slow process 19 Harassment of Egyptian human rights defenders 20 Drafting of a new Law on Association: real progress or attempts of silencing NGOs 26 Conclusion 30 HUMAN RIGHTS ORGANISATIONS AND FREEDOM OF ASSOCIATION IN EGYPT Introduction On May 26, 1999, President Mubarak ratified a new Law on Civil Associations and Institutions (Law 153 of 1999). The law that severely restricts freedom of association was adopted the same day by the People's Assembly meanwhile Egypt was concluding an Association Agreement with the EU within the framework of the Barcelona process. On June 21, 1999, the EU Council welcomed the successful conclusion of the negotiations between the EU and Egypt. Article 2 of the Agreement states that all of its provisions shall be based on respect for democratic principles and fundamental human rights as set out in the Universal Declaration on Human Rights, which guides the Parties' internal and international policy and constitutes an essential element of the Agreement. With the signing of the Agreement, Egypt formally strengthens her commitment to uphold universal human rights, as it had done previously when it ratified the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which includes guarantees of free association enshrined in Article 22. However in practice, by adopting the new law Egypt breached her international commitments. The Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Network (EMHRN) and the International Federation of Human Rights (FIDH) have over the past year closely followed the process that led to the adoption of Law 153 of 1999. In December 1998 they commissioned a mission to Cairo to investigate into the arrest of Hafez Abu Saeda, Secretary General of the Egyptian Organisation for Human Rights (EOHR). In February 1999, they sent a second mission to Cairo to make enquiries into the preparatory work on the Draft Law on Private Association and Institutions as well as the pending case against Hafez Abu Saeda and the EOHR's case for obtaining legal recognition. In May 1999, when the report from the February mission was about to be released they were informed that a Bill on Civil Associations and Institutions was about to be swiftly passed by the People's Assembly, and it was decided to send an urgent third mission to Cairo. This report summarises the main results of the two latest missions undertaken by the EMHRN and the FIDH. It is divided into two parts, the first of which reports from the May mission and mainly deals with the Law on Private Associations and Institutions. The second part reports from the mission of February 1999 and deals with EOHR's case to obtain legal recognition and the pending 1 case against Hafez Abu Saeda. Finally, it describes the process of drafting of the new law on Private Associations and Institutions.1 Conclusions and recommendations The conclusions of the May mission are that - Law 153 unnecessarily restricts the right of freedom to association as guaranteed under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) which has been ratified by Egypt. - it represents a step back for the promotion and protection of human rights within the framework of the Barcelona process and the Association Agreement between Egypt and the EU. - there are strong reasons to believe that the law will severely hamper the work of human rights organisations in Egypt. The February mission - deplored the unnecessarily long period it has taken for the EOHR to obtain legal status. - deplored the arrest, and the humiliating conditions during the detention of Mr Hafez Abu Saada. It considered his arrest as an act of intimidation aimed at preventing the release of human rights reports on police brutality and asked that the pending case of Hafez Abou Hafez be brought to a prompt closure. - asked that the People’s Assembly adopt a new law on associations which allows for real freedom for the human rights organisations and for organisations in general. The main recommendations to the Egyptian government are: 1. to ensure that Law 153 is reconsidered as soon as possible in a transparent process of consultation with the Egyptian NGO community. 2. to take the necessary steps to close the pending case against Mr. Hafez Abu Saeda The main recommendations to the EU are: 1. EU officials should communicate concern about the pattern of restrictions on freedom to association in Egypt in bilateral and multilateral meetings with Egyptian government officials. 1Although some of the elements of the February report could have been reconsidered in the light of the latest events in Egypt, we have chosen to publish it as it is because we feel it contains valuable background material to the recent development concerning freedom of association in Egypt 2 2. EU officials should urge that Law on Private Associations and Institutions be repealed and replaced with legislation in conformity with the free association standards of Article 22 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. 3. In particular, the EU Parliament and member states should demand that the law be repealed before ratifying the Association Agreement between the EU and Egypt. 4. Until the law is repealed, EU officials should closely monitor developments in Egypt that unnecessarily restrict freedom of association. They should communicate concerns directly to Egyptian government official and make such demarches public. 5. Funding agencies should continue to support non-governmental organizations regardless of the adoption of Law 153 of 1999. 3 PART 1: LAW 153 OF 1999 ON PRIVATE ASSOCIATIONS AND INSTITUTIONS IN EGYPT Report from a human rights mission to Cairo, May 26-30, 1999 by Marc Schade-Poulsen The EMHRN and the FIDH were about to release their report on human rights and freedom of association in Egypt when they were informed that a Bill on Civil Associations and Institutions was about to be swiftly passed by the People's Assembly on May 25-26, 1999. Marc Schade- Poulsen, Executive Director of the EMHRN, was therefore urgently appointed to a mission to Cairo with the mandate to: * enquire into the events leading to the adoption of the law. * evaluate whether the law conforms to Egypt's international human rights obligations including its commitment to the Barcelona process.2 The adoption of Law 153 of 1999: a sequence of events Law 153 of 1999 is to replace the existing Law 32 of 1964 regulating NGOs in Egypt. The latter has frequently been used to deny legal status to NGOs and to dissolve existing organisations. As a consequence human rights organisations in Egypt are today registered as civil companies under the Civil Code or as lawyers firms, except for the Egyptian Organisation for Human Rights (EOHR) whose case for legal recognition has been pending since 1987 (see part two of this report). More than six versions of the law have been drafted since autumn 1997 several of which maintain severe restrictions on freedom to association.3 2During the visit to Cairo, M ay 26-30, 1999, Marc Schade-P oulsen was able to meet with Dr. Fathi Naguib, Advisor to the Ministry of Justice, in charge of the Drafting Committee on the Association Law; Dr. Fathi Serour, Speaker of the People’s Assembly; M s. Naila Gabr, D irector of the Human Rights Department of the Ministry of F oreign A ffairs; Dr. Ayman Nour , m ember of the People's Assembly (Wafd Party); Dr. Abdel Aziz Shaaban, m ember of the People’s Assembly (Tagammu P arty); Bahey El Din Hassan, Director of the Cair o Institute for H uman Rights Studies; Negad El Borai, Director, Group for D emocr atic Development; Gasser Abdel Razak, Director, Centre for Human Rights and Legal Aid; Hafez Abu Saeda, Secretary General, Egyptian Organisation for Human Rights; and Amir Salem, Director, Legal Research and Resource Centre for Human Rights, m ember of the Drafting C ommittee on the A ssociation Law.
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